By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
Throughout the Easter season of 50 days there are outstanding manifestations of the Lord from week to week that strengthen our faith in him, and love for him. Divine Mercy Sunday, the second Sunday of Easter is the culmination of the Easter Octave reverberating with the loving mercy, peace and power of the resurrection. Good Shepherd Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Easter enfolds us in perhaps the most beloved image of God in the entire Bible revealing the personal relationship that the Lord wants with each of us and all of us together as his flock, his body. Two weeks later we celebrate the great feast of the Ascension, with the assurance that our citizenship is in heaven. From that moment until Pentecost we will maintain vigilance in prayer awaiting to be clothed with power from on high.

Although Good Shepherd Sunday has a much longer tradition in the Catholic Church than Divine Mercy Sunday, it is St. John the Evangelist who has blessed the church until Christ comes again with these beloved manifestations.

The beloved disciple, apostle and evangelist embraced the image of the Good Shepherd, beloved to Jew and Christian, and made it the centerpiece of his Gospel at nearly the halfway point in chapter 10. It is an image that is deeply rooted in the Old Testament portraying that God for the Israelites was far more than a lawgiver.

He was a loving presence who renewed their strength, anointed their heads with oil, set a table before them, and led them through dark valleys and rough patches. It is such a powerful image that it easily transcended its origins to become the earliest rendition of the risen Lord in Christian art as discovered in the catacombs.

It continues to capture the imagination of believers even though many of us have never directly experienced this way of life, except for the sheep barn at the County Fair. It endures because it represents God as loving and personal, wedded to his people forever. “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep… I know my own and my own knows me… My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.” (John 10:1ff)

On Good Shepherd Sunday, the church prays for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. As part of the flock of the Good Shepherd all are grafted onto the vine of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, and we pray that all will respond generously to the voice of the Lord to live their vocation.

From the household of God, we pray for vocations to the ordained and consecrated life. We recall Jesus’ words at the Last Supper to his apostles. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” (John:15-16) Ultimately, this is the work of the Lord, but we are to beg the harvest master to send out workers to the vineyard because the harvest is great. (Matthew 9:35-38)

The Eucharistic Revival is intrinsically linked with the priesthood, and all the faithful have a part to play in raising up vocations. In this spirit, the Synod on Synodality is a clarion call for all of the baptized to take their place in the household of God, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart to proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light. (1Peter 2:9)

May we hear the voice of the Lord, crucified and risen, resound in our hearts and minds in order to follow him faithfully.

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
“Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, and that the Lord may grant you a season of refreshment.” (Acts of the Apostles 3:19-20)

During this Easter season there will be additional opportunities in each of our six deaneries to further the conversations in our undertaking of Pastoral Reimagining process. To apply the phrase from the Scriptures by St. Peter in the passage above, another way of expressing the goal of our process is to advance toward a season of refreshment and renewal under the gaze of One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.

Although the process was organized from the diocesan center, the handiwork has taken place on the local level with conversations for the sake of reimagining of what could be, building upon the diocesan and world-wide undertaking of Synodality in the Catholic Church.

It must be a grassroots process in order for the diocesan center to engage in authentic listening and conversation with all points on the compass. In other words, “whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Acts 3:22) The Lord himself expressed spiritual and pastoral potential “…they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.” (Matthew 13:15)

Not surprisingly, healing and greater unity were a repeated theme during our diocesan synodal process, both for our church and society. Another expressed desire was for a more meaningful understanding and application of the Bible, the sacred word of God. All this is seen and heard on Divine Mercy Sunday from the scriptures, in the Eucharist, and in the recitation of the Chaplet.

In the classic resurrection appearance, the Lord was suddenly in the midst of his scattered and fearful apostles and immediately blessed them with peace, in fact, three times over two encounters. He proceeded to breathe upon them the power of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins, theirs and all who would hear the Gospel and come to faith. With God’s grace in abundance, he sent them into the world so that “all may have life in his name.” (John 20:19-31) This is a Gospel account of healing and hope in the aftermath of the trauma of the violent crucifixion, and the division and conflict that come from such events. Many in our society and church are reeling from similar turmoil.

From Divine Mercy Sunday in the tradition of the beloved disciple John we heard in the second reading that this is the power, “that came through water and blood, Jesus Christ. The Spirit is the one that testifies, and the Spirit is truth.” (1John 5:6) Water and the blood, the blue and the red rays from the side of the crucified and resurrected One, Divine Mercy. The good fruit of all of this is heard and imagined from the first reading on Divine Mercy Sunday.

“The community of believers was of one heart and one mind … With great power the apostles bore witness to the power of the resurrection, and there was no needy person among them.” (1Acts 4:33-35)
This is the paradigm Christian community, strong in faith, hope and love, an ideal for sure, but also real on many levels. Although not formally expressed until the year 325 in the Nicene Creed, it is clear that One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic were unfolding at the beginning.

The process of Reimagining in our diocese is a hope that is ever ancient and ever new. “Late have I loved you, O Beauty every ancient, ever new…” (Saint Augustine, Confessions)

We want to see, hear, and understand the power of the Lord’s resurrection, his peace, his mercy, his call and mission for our lives, in our parishes, schools and ministries. Overall, the new life of Eastertide, a season of refreshment, by God’s grace, is producing the good fruit from the efforts of reimagining in our diocese. Let us continue to fight the good fight of faith, “the power that conquers the world.” (1John 5:4)

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.

Lent arrives at its final stage with Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. It is an intensive time of accompanying the Lord Jesus in his passion and suffering, through his death, to the glory of the resurrection.

The uniqueness of the Palm Sunday Mass is found in the entrance rite with palm in hand, the procession, and the proclamation of the passion narrative. This year, the passion from the Gospel of Mark will resound throughout the Catholic world, and in a profoundly stark cry of forsakenness the Lord speaks for all of humanity. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” (Mark 15:34) Between Palm Sunday and the Easter Vigil, the great majority of the faithful will be gathered at the outset of Holy Week to allow the Lord’s final hours and words to wash over them in the blood and water flowing from his side.

Chiara Lubich, the founder of the Focolare Movement expresses the great mystery of our forsaken Lord in this manner: “We contemplated in him the height of his love because it was the height of his suffering. What more could a God give us, that it seems that he forgets that he is God … Jesus converted the world with his words, with his example, with his preaching, but he transformed it when he provided the proof of his love, the Cross.”

Lubich and all who see the Lord with the eyes of faith are building upon the unshakeable foundation of St. Paul on the power of the Cross. “Indeed, the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God … Jews demand signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified. This is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God … For I resolved that while I was with you, I would know nothing except Jesus Christ, and him crucified … so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” (1Corinthians 1:18, 22-24; 2:2-5)

With his blood and with his cry, Jesus crucified and forsaken opened up all possibilities for this life including forgiveness, unity, justice, and peace, and eternal life to follow. It is true that all of humanity is in exile, but there are those whose forsakenness is extreme. During these most sacred days of faith, we are mindful of those in the Holy Land especially, but not exclusively, who are crucified and forsaken in war, destruction, death and displacement. These abandoned are more closely configured to our crucified Lord in their suffering.

Lubich offers this vision and hope: “Jesus forsaken is the most greatly pruned, whom neither heaven nor earth seemed to want … Because he had been uprooted from both earth and heaven, he brought into unity those who were cut off, those who were uprooted from God.”

Therefore, he and he alone is the way to reach beyond the barriers of hatred and violence toward the unity for which he prayed at the Last Supper, “that all may be one.” (John 17:22)

Again, from the wisdom of Lubich and the Focolare Movement we read: “This is everything, to love as he loved us, to the extent of his experiencing for our sake the sensation of being forsaken by his Father. Through Jesus, in fact, we gain by losing, we live by dying. The grain of wheat has to die in order to produce the ear of grain; we need to be pruned in order to bear good fruit. This is Jesus’ law, his paradox. The Holy Spirit is making us understand that in order to bring about Jesus’ prayer ‘may they all be one’ it is necessary to welcome Jesus forsaken in our disunity. Jesus forsaken is the road, the key, the secret.”

These are words of wisdom for us during Holy Week in the line of St. Paul. The Holy Spirit has inspired many in the Synodal and Reimagining processes in our diocese to address the need for greater healing and unity in our communities of faith.

The Holy Spirit is guiding us during Holy Week to look to Christ crucified and forsaken as the power and wisdom of God in whom all things are possible. The Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead and who dwells within us through faith and baptism, will inspire to proclaim Alleluia on Easter Sunday because he is risen. But before we arrive at the empty tomb let the crucified and forsaken Lord wash us clean in his blood.

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
The American Catholic experience has been blessed far and wide from the outset by the sacrifice and dedication of religious women and men who arrived with their immigrant communities or came soon after to live and serve among them. At times, God had to raise up these dedicated servants from within to respond to the glaring needs of marginalized and persecuted populations in our country.

In our southern and western regions Sister Katherine Drexel, a native-born Philadelphian, (PA) and the sisters of the Blessed Sacrament come to mind who served Black and Indigenous Americans since their founding in 1891. Our own Sister Amelia Breton who serves as the coordinator of Intercultural Ministry, is a member of this religious community.

At the beginning of the 19th century Elizabeth Ann Seton founded the Sisters of Charity in 1809, the first American Religious Sisters congregation. She was deeply committed to education and is recognized as the foundress of Catholic school education in the United States. Members of her community came to Natchez in 1847 at the behest of Bishop John Joseph Chanche, S.S. to begin the legacy of Catholic education in our diocese. This religious community maintained a presence in Natchez until the early 2000s. Furthermore, God raised up our own Sister Thea Bowman from among the African American population in Canton to become a prophetic messenger of hope for Black Catholics and for all who are marginalized. Her cause for canonization is underway.

In theaters on March 8 across our nation, “Cabrini” is scheduled for release. It is the story of Frances Xavier Cabrini who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Italy in the second half of the 19th century. The name of her community and her chosen middle name in honor of St. Francis Xavier, co-patron of the Missions, declare the purpose of her life and the charism of her community to bring the Gospel in its fulness to the nations. It is a compelling production, exceptional in its content and acting.

In one of the decisive scenes, Mother Cabrini and Pope Leo XIII are having tea and discussing possibilities. She is trying to convince him to give her order permission to venture east to China as she explains, “my mission is bigger than this world.” He calmly and clearly responds: “In that case it doesn’t matter where you begin.” He directed her to go west to New York to serve among the Italian immigrants who came in large numbers to the east coast between 1850 and 1910. The movie proceeds to realistically portray the harsh conditions for immigrants in the church and in society in the late 19th and early 20th century in New York.

On a personal note, it was around 1910 that my maternal grandparents who were from southern Italy passed through Ellis Island and began a new life with the clothes on their backs and a dream in their hearts. The movie is a gem that illustrates the plight, the vulnerability and determination of the immigrant population in ways that are true from one generation to the next. Against all odds Mother Cabrini succeeded in gaining a foothold in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, and from there fulfilled her mission around the globe, a mission that was “bigger than this world.”

The movie never missed a beat in capturing her heroic virtue and perseverance. This story of religious life that passed from the margins of church and society to the mainstream of both, will be a catechetical and evangelizing tool for generations to come. Kudos to all who had a hand in its development and production.

Moreover, the story of Mother Cabrini can challenge our Catholic communities and all people of good will to respond to the challenges, and at times crises, of immigration through the lens of the Gospel imperative to “welcome the stranger” and the ideals that are forever inscribed on the Statue of Liberty in the poem The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus. The following is from the second of two stanzas: “Give me your tired your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, send these the homeless, tempest tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

In our times, many religious are serving the immigrant population at our borders and in many corners of our nation. Often, they are as heroic as Mother Cabrini because some are pressuring to shut them down, and extremists are even advocating that they be shot. The current reality of immigration with its blessings and its burdens challenges us to go beyond the political posturing and invective that too often dominate the public narrative. In the time ahead we will add our voice to the public domain.

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
God of all ages,
You always work to save us, and now we rejoice in the great love You give to your chosen people.
Bless and protect all who are about to become Your children through baptism, and all who seek full communion with us.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.

This opening prayer is proclaimed at the Rite of Election for Catechumens, the elect who are preparing for Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist; and Candidates, those preparing for Confirmation and Eucharist, all who are seeking to enter into full communion in the Catholic Church through their parish communities.

This is the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, the process through which adults, primarily but also those above the age of reason, like Sister Thea Bowman at age nine, discern if the Holy Spirit is directing them to the bosom of the Catholic Church. This year the Rite of Election in the Diocese of Jackson took place at St. Francis in Madison, and St. John in Oxford. The OCIA is a hope-filled and joyful process for individuals, families, parish communities, and dioceses. It can also assist the traditional Catholic in their Lenten journey to hear the Lord’s call to repentance to live in a manner worthy of our calling and for the renewal of our Baptism promises at Easter.

You are always at work to save, O God, is the initial verse of the above prayer, and Pope Francis in his Lenten address recounts God’s words to Moses at the Burning Bush to bring forth the active presence of God in our world and in our lives.

“When the Lord calls out to Moses from the burning bush, he immediately shows that he is a God who sees and, above all, hears: ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry…. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them.’ (Exodus 3:7-8)” In the fullness of time God’s personal encounter with all humanity reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ who is “with us always until the end of time.” (Matthew 28:20)

In his Lenten address Pope Francis often speaks of the journey from slavery in its many forms to freedom through faith in Jesus Christ. “In the Exodus account, there is a significant detail: it is God who sees, is moved and brings freedom; Israel does not ask for this. Pharaoh stifles dreams, blocks the view of heaven, makes it appear that this world, in which human dignity is trampled upon and authentic bonds are denied, can never change. He put everything in bondage to himself. Let us ask: Do I want a new world? Am I ready to leave behind my compromises with the old?” Pharoah, who easily stands for the evil one, in league with any of the idols we construct, wants us to be subjects; the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ wants beloved children. What a difference!

An essential part of the Liturgy of Baptism is a series of questions addressed to the parents and godparents, as well as to adult catechumens. They place us in the desert with Jesus who rebuffed the devil’s allures and temptations.

“Do you reject Satan, and all his works, and all his empty promises?”

“Do you reject the glamor of evil and refuse to be mastered by sin?”

Our affirmative responses express our commitment to the spiritual warfare against sin and evil that prayer, fasting and almsgiving effectively counter.

At the end of his Lenten message Pope Francis endeavors to rally the faithful. “To the extent that this Lent becomes a time of conversion, an anxious humanity will notice a burst of creativity, a flash of new hope. Allow me to repeat what I told the young people whom I met in Lisbon last summer: Keep seeking and be ready to take risks. At this moment in time, we face enormous risks; we hear the painful plea of so many people. Indeed, we are experiencing a third world war fought piecemeal. Yet let us find the courage to see our world, not as being in its death throes but in a process of giving birth, not at the end but at the beginning of a great new chapter of history. We need courage to think like this.”

By putting on the armor of God we claim our dignity as God’s children, as ambassadors of Jesus Christ, ministers of reconciliation, in effect, new creations. (2Corinthians 5:20) Indeed, the Kingdom of God is at hand for our receiving.

“Our affirmative responses express our commitment to the spiritual warfare against sin and evil that prayer, fasting and almsgiving effectively counter.”